The paltry number of server GM's are relying on dwindling number of Guides, so no one has the time to watch bards being stupid or people killing bards.

A real solution? Bardic song DoT's either do a .25 damage or no damage to an enemy in free forward motion. If the enemy is Feared or standing its ground, it eats full damage. Problem solved.

And don't EVEN use the excuse of "if people would invite bards to groups they wouldn't swarm." bullcrap. That is the biggest load of nonsense I've read on the boards this week. Bards know that the hybrid penalty is gone and the sky is the limit for fast leveling, and it is NOT with groups.

I already did make that argument. Have you ever played a bard past level 10? Ever aoe kited? Grouping is a breeze compared to kiting - saves your wrist and a whole lot of anxiety. Plus, the loot blows when kiting.

Also, your idea is not a solution, it is a non-classic alteration of core game mechanics. An actual, and CLASSIC, solution would be to fix social aggro so charm kiting works like it did on live. Much safer, and significantly reduces the amount of mobs needed by a bard at one time, while also being very efficient.

GM's do a lot to stop this kind of behavior trust me. As an AOE kiting bard i for one have a macro that /ooc's to the zone that i am PLing and to call out your groups camps or send me tells of where you are EXPing so i can avoid your area. This should be a macro for every bard trying to PL or even EXP to avoid drama and to play nicely with everyone. But, a lot of people who roll bards are just as much of an asshole as someone logging into a wizard to cause even more drama. Bards are actually pretty cool when you dont go into it with disdain in your first communication with them.

I understand that it's part of the EQ's bard mechanic. What I don't understand is why take every mob in the zone. From camps, especially since you know people are at that camp? The biggest issue is the justification to do it. 4 mobs? You're quad kiting...big whoop. 20+ mobs....the whole zone?

These people tell others to find a different zone, but never consider these people were there hours before they started kiting. This makes the bard community look self entitled. Especially since they back their disruptive play 100%.

If people just played a bard normally, not like butt hole, I don't think people would have issues. But I guess 4-5 mobs just isn't enough...have to settle for half the zone.

As for someone who actually played classic EQ back in the day, this was never a huge issue. More like "oh, a druid/bard quading." Now it's like "oh, a bard kiting 90% of the zone...and we were here first, but they wont acknowledge it and tell us to go somewhere else just because." I sure hope this isn't an issue at the higher levels.

It's only natural for them to take as many as they can. If that means 20 or the whole zone, then... yup. Pretty much every bard I've met will leave mobs for others when asked.

Even from camps that are camped? Why should someone have to ask a bard to let them have some of their mobs when that train consists of their camp? I don't see how that's fair. That's like taking something from me, then expecting me to ask for permission to have it back.

I thought camps and camp checks were what this community pushes. How come that's doesn't apply to bards? Just because they can do it? I'll state I have never encountered a positive experience with bards since starting on this server. Even if I ask if I can have the mobs I am camping...it's always replied with a snarky comment back. The most popular is "go to another zone".

Ethics and rules lawyering aside from both sides, man this is rants and flames worthy with the swearing and insults being thrown around.

I'm not saying "ask permission."

The play nice policy has only ever been enforced by Eunomia. Her departure had led to a "wild west" approach - on and off of double xp weekends. Granted it's amplified.

Show any of the current GMs (and I mean any) a video of a bard train, ninja looter, mob stealer, or intentional FD train and they'll shrug uncaringly. At the end of the day it's thier server and they just want an easy life, which I understand... But makes for a pretty poor experience a lot of the time.

I only played here for 7 months and have had dozens of shitty encounters with bards. IMO training em and ksing their PL clients is fair game.